Nancy Quintyne (left), recipient of the 2022 Poummit Secretarial Award, with Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Judy Horowitz. Several colleagues and faculty in her department and members of the nominating committee surprised Ms. Quintyne with the award in her office.
The Poummit Secretarial Award for 2022 at SUNY Fredonia has been presented to Nancy Quintyne, an Administrative Assistant Trainee 2 in the Department of Visual Arts and New Media.
The award is named in honor of Janet Marks, a former secretary to the Fredonia president, and was established through the Fredonia College Foundation.
Ms. Quintyne’s career at the university began in 2017 as an Office Assistant 1 in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She was promoted to Assistant Administrative Trainee 1 in the Department of Visual Arts and New Media in August 2021 and then advanced, a year later, to Administrative Assistant Trainee 2 in the same department.
Department Chair and Associate Professor Michele Bernatz, who has worked closely with Quintyne since she joined Visual Arts and New Media, can attest to Quintyne’s outstanding Fredonia attitude.
Workloads in the department are unique and nearly always demanding, Dr. Bernantz said, but Quintyne seeks challenges, looks for solutions to complicated problems, has considerable knowledge and skills and is confident in her own capacity for success.
“What Nancy brought was a ‘can-do’ attitude, a desire to make a difference, and a tremendous set of skills that helped bring order out of chaos, to sort through what needed attention right away and what could be completed later,” Bernantz said. Very quickly, Quintyne came to understand how the department functioned, the essential needs of faculty and the facilities that are maintained for instruction in the arts.
“As the face of our department to potential students and their parents, as well as often being the first contact they have with VANM, Nancy is an outstanding ambassador for VANM and the university as a whole." - Associate Professor Stephen Komp
Quintyne brought special knowledge, skills and talents beyond the norm, Bernantz added. Having a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration – Marketing, Quintyne is always mindful of ways to improve the university’s public-facing image. She has monitored social media chatter to see how the department and the university are perceived by students and/or the general public.
Having worked four years of experience in the banking industry, Quintyne’s fiscal management skills have proven to be a tremendous asset for the department. Quintyne’s background in client services informs her interactions with students, parents and others. She also understands the challenges of higher-level administrators and the myriad problems they face, Bernantz said, pointing to the four years Quintyne worked in the dean’s office. Quintyne also took a leading role in revising the department’s portfolio submission platform and supplies ordering process. She also took the lead in assembling data required by accreditation reviewers.
Associate Professor Peter Tucker considers Quintyne to be a consummate professional who goes out of her way to welcome and give last-minute tours to prospective students and their families.
While serving on a search committee alongside Tucker, Quintyne proved to be an invaluable member by keeping it moving forward efficiently, dealing with job candidates with a high degree of professionalism and adding value to the committee by sharing her insights and ideas.
Professor Tim Frerichs said Quintyne continuously shows a very positive attitude, a smile and laugh for students, faculty and potential students. She’s also able to look at a problem for multiple solutions and make strong suggestions, collaborates well with others and takes responsibilities seriously, he added.
“Nancy Quintyne is an outstanding secretary, colleague and professional. Nancy is an amazing resource, works exceptionally hard and still maintains a wonderful attitude and warm personality,” Mr. Frerichs noted. “In many ways, Nancy is the glue of the department,” he said.
“As the face of our department to potential students and their parents, as well as often being the first contact they have with VANM, Nancy is an outstanding ambassador for VANM and the university as a whole,” said Associate Professor Stephen Komp. She will organize individual tours of the department for potential students and their parents and is very knowledgeable about the department and each individual major – something that is quite remarkable in the short amount of time she has been with VANM, Mr. Komp noted.
Quintyne took full control of the department’s 24-hour review process during her first year as secretary, handling the Herculean task of scheduling faculty and students, reserving rooms, setting up the online submission process. “Nancy has made the process so seamless and easy,” Komp noted.
From the beginning, Quintyne has gone above and beyond the requirements of the job ensuring that students have the resources, tools and information needed, according to Associate Professor Jason Dilworth. She has dealt with the uncertainty of remote and hybrid classes and has helped the department create clear communication plans and strategies, Mr. Dilworth added.
Quintyne has the institutional knowledge to respond to problems involving unresponsive vendors or delayed shipments quickly and creatively, Dilworth noted.
“It is clear that Quintyne works with everyone and has genuinely improved the morale within our department,” Dilworth said.
